Statistical card system



Feb. 22, 1944.

-R. A. NICLAS Filed July 27, 1942 .2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L INVENTOR, T 6 299A I A T TOPNE K Feb. 22, 1944. c s 2,342,361

STATISTICAL CARD SYSTEM Filed July 27, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FL F k)nnnmnnnn l I I nunnnnnnnunnunnnnnnnnnnlfnnnnunnu 25d i I Iuunnnugnunnuggnnngnunnn nllnnnnn INVENTOR,

5O w 7 15 A a W 8 95% ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 22, 19'

UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFICE s'ra'rrs'rrcar. calm s'rsnu Robert a.Niclas, Oakland, Calif. Application July 21. 1942, Serial No. 452,529 '1claim. (or. 164-112) This invention relates to improvements instatistical card systems, and more particularly to novel means forproviding record cards with index slots having predetermined informativesigniflcance.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved machine forpreparing record cards used in supplying statistical information.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved machine forslotting record cards in accordance with a prearranged index code,

whereby cards slotted in a particular manner will indicate that certainstatistical information is contained thereon.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved statisticalcard system by which record cards, slotted in a predetermined manner toindicate they have thereon certain statistical information, may beselectively isolated through the use of an implement adapted to beoperated in association with their prearranged slots.

(pther and further objects of my invention will be pointed outhereinafter, or will be indicated in the appended claims, or will beobvious to one skilled in the art upon an understanding of the presentdisclosure. For the purpose of this application I have elected to showherein certain forms and details of a machine for providing statisticalcards with index slots which is representative of my invention; it is tobe understood. however, that the embodiment of my invention herein shownand described is for the purpose of illustration only, and-thattherefore it is not to be regarded as exhaustive of the variations ofthe invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a card slotting machine embodying thepreferred principles of my invention, showing the casing in section;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22'of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 34 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a statistical card made in accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of an implement used to segregatethe statistical cards;

Fig; 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the cards arefiled and se r ated; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of a number or statistical cards assembledin a file. showing the the purpose of lifting certain slotted cards fromthe file, and showing diagrammatically by the broken lines the positionof certain lifted cards after the insertion of the said implement in thefile.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates a base member uponwhich a casing 2 hava front opening is supported.

- Arranged in uniformly spaced position inside the casing and held apartby upper and lower spacing members 3, are a plurality of vertical panelsI. The arrangement of the panels 4 in spaced relation with respect toeach other provides a plurality of vertical openings or slots with inwhich a plurality of vertical plates or punch carriers 8 are mounted forforward and rearward reciprocating movement. The vertical plates rest onthe lower spacing members 3 and are held in substantially verticalpositions by the panels 4. The vertical panels 4 and the upper and lowerspacing members 3 are secured together by elongated bolts 8 and nuts 1.

In order that the plates 5 may be manually engaged by an operator's handwhen it is desired that they be returned to their forward positionsafter being moved rearwardly, the rear side of' the casin 2 is providedwith a longitudinal opening 2:: which substantially coincides with cutout grooves 4a in the rear edges of the panels I. The forward movementof the plates 5 is limited by upper and lower flanges 2' at the frontside of the casing,

Secured to the forward edge of each reciprocatory plate I is a tab 8having a numeral or other designating character thereon. The pressing ofany one of the tabs 8 in a rearward direction will cause its associatedplate to be similarly moved in the same direction. The vertical panels 4and the reciprocatory plates 5 are provided at their lower front edgeswith angular notches 9 and I0 respectively, and the said notches havesubstantially horizontal slotted extensions 9' and Ill into which arecord card A may be inserted when a punching operation is to be carriedout. Thgangular notches 9 and III enable an operator to better observethe upper surface of the card when it is being placed into the slots 9'and Ill.

The reciprocatnry plates 5 are provided with segregating implement aboutto be applied for which is slidably mounted in a vertical groove I 4 arecapable of being moved rearwardly and forwardly as a unit. The punchblocks '2 are engaged at their upper ends by a horizontally disposedchannel bar II which extends horizontally across the interior. of thecasing through the rectangular openings ii in the said plates andthrough aligned substantially T-shaped openings IS in the verticalpanels 4. The channel bar It is secured at its opposite ends to verticalreciprocatory rods I'I which extend upwardly through the upper wall ofthe casing and are secured to a horizontal member ll. Pivotally securedas at It to the central part of the member I8 is a hand lever 20 whichis pivotally attached at its rear end to a protuberance 2i provided onthe casing. By pressing the forward end of the hand lever 20 in adownward direction the punches l3 are simultaneously actuated intoengagement with a record cardJi if one be then positioned in the slottedextensions 9' and M. The reciprocatory rods [1 are provided withadjustable nuts I I which engage with the channel bar l when the saidrods are moved in a downward direction. The nuts H are slightly abovethe channel bar IE, but their positions may be adjusted relativethereto.

Connected as by brackets 22 to the reciprocatory rods I1 is a,longitudinally disposed rod 23 assassi which carries a laminatedstructure throughout its length composed of a plurality of contactingcircular washers 24. The rod 23 and the laminated structure thereonextends transversely through the downwardly disposed parts of theT-shaped openings in the panels 4 and through horizontal slots l2 in thepunch blocks l2. The upward movement of th hand lever 20, after it hasbeen depressed to perform the card punching operation, causes the rod 23to be actuated in the same direction, thereby moving the punch blocks l2and their punches l3 upwardly to positions whereby the lower ends of thepunches are withdrawn from the rectangular slots previously punched inthe record card A. The horizontal slots l2 in the punch blocks l2 enableeach of the plates 5, together with their associated blocks and punches,to be moved rearwardly and forwardly.

The lower spacing members 3 are provided beneath the grooves H in theplates 5 with channels 24 (see Fig. 2) through which the punched piecesfrom the cards A may be discharged.

Mounted on the lower rear bolts 8 and securely clamped against the endpanels 4 are two lugs 25 upon each of which is rotatably mounted a cam26 having a finger piece 21 connected thereto. The cams 28 are of thesame shape and are positioned to intercept a record cardinserted intothe machine for punching purposes. The cams 26 are each provided witharcuate edges of unequal radii. When the particular arcuate edges of thecams having the shorter radii are positioned to intercept a record cardinserted into the slots 9 and ID, the rear edge of the said card willthen be positioned so the punches I! are located at a predetermineddistance in front thereof, thereby enabling the operator to slot thecard at points farther removed from the said rear edge of th card thanwhen the arcuate edges having the longer radii are forwardly disposed.As shown in Fig.7, the upper set of aligned per.

forations B in the record card were punchedwhen the arcuate edges of thecam members 20 having the longer radii were forwardly disposed and incontact with the card, while the lower set of perforations C werepunched when the arcuate edges having the shorter radii were positionedto engage the rear edge of the said card. Stop members 23 limit the'rotary movement of the cams in either direction. It is contemplated thatthe lowerset of perforations be associated with a prearranged codewherein each perforation by its relative position indicates certaininformation about a particular subject or activity. The upper set ofperforations in the cards may also be associated with a code, butpreferably they are used in connection with a segregating implement tolift certain segregated cards from the file in which they were located.

Secured on the lower rear bolts 6 are side wings 29 which are separatedone from the other by a distance substantially the length of the cards,the said side wings serving asguides for guiding the cards when insertedin the slots 9' and I0 and then holding them in their proper positionsfor the punching operation.

The cards are first punched at their top edges with horizontally alignedsets of slots, holes or perforations B. Each card is prepared withcertain data relating to a particular subject, and in accordance with aprearranged code, a certain tab, or combination of tabs 8 is pushedrearwardly to move their associated punches iii to the rear of theothers. The punches so moved to the rear of the other punches will, whenthe cards position in the slotted extensions 9' and I 0' is reversed,punch slots D at the lower edge of the card, as shown by the dottedlines in Fig. 7, while the other punches not moved rearwardly will punchholes 0. During this latter selective punching operation the cams 26 arepositioned so the arcuate surfaces having the shorter radii are inengagement with the rear edge of the card. The marginal slots D in thecards are indicative or certain statistical information or data about aparticular subject being on the card. 'The particular location of themarginal slots D with respect to the others will indicate in accordancewith the prearranged code what statistical information can be found'onthe card. The marginal slots D will serve as an index to thoseunderstanding and using the system.

When the statistical cards relating to a business or activity thereofhave been prepared in accordance with my invention, they are placed in afiling case 30 (see Figs. 7 and 8) having a longitudinal opening 3| inits front side which is in registry with the lower perforations C of thesaid cards. The filing case 30 is preferably provided with one or moreextenions 30' to which certain segregated cards may be successivelytransferred. In segregating certain cards from the others, an implement32 having an inclined or beveled edge is used. The width and thicknessof the blade of the implement is such that it may be inserted throughthe opening 3! in the filing case and into certain of the perforations Cor D of the cards. If it, is desired that all of the cards havingcertain information bearing on a particular subject be segregated fromthe others, the implement 32 is inserted through the slot 3| and intothe particular index opening or aperture .which the operator understandsis keyed to the wardly aligned perforations C or some of the cards andhold them downwardly, and at the same time it will enter the slots D 01'the other of the cards which hapuen to have their slots in alignmentwith the index opening which the implement initially entered. Thosecards having slots D whiclithe-implement 32 has entered will be raisedupwardly by the beveled edge of the said implement as it is pushedrearwardly, as shown by the broken lines in Fig. '7. While the desiredcards are held in a raised position by the implement 32, a secondsimilar implement is inserted through certain of their alignedperforations B, after which the then engaged cards are lifted upwardlyby means of the second implement and transferred to the extension file30' Further segregation of the selected cards may be made in the mannerabove described.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine for the purpose described, a plurality of verticallyreciprocatory punches normally positioned in horizontal alignment, thesaid punches being mounted for independent adjustment in a directiontransverse to their normally aligned positi'ons, means for supporting arecord card in a position where it may be acted upon by the punches,rotatable adjustable means which in one adjusted position maintains "therecord card with one of its edges in a certain relative position withrespect to the normally aligned position of the punches and which whenin another adjusted position maintains the record card with another ofits edges in another relative position with respect to the said normalposition of the punches, and means for actuating the punches in adirection whereby they may engage the record card to perforate the same.

2. In a machine for the purpose described, a plurality of spacedreciprocatory punches normally positioned in alignment and mounted forindependent adjustment to positions out of alignment with respect to oneanother, means for supporting a record card in a position whereby it maybe engaged by the punches, adjustable means which in one adjustedposition maintains the record card in a certain position with respect tothe normally aligned position of the punches and which when in anotheradjusted position maintains the recdrd card with another of its edges inanother relative position with respect to the said normal position ofthe punches, and means for simultaneously actuating the punches in adirection whereby they may engage the record card to perforate the same.

3. In a machine for the purpose described, a plurality oi. spaced punchcarriers normally positioned in alignment and mounted for independentadjustment from and to their normal positions, a punch carried by eachcarrier, and mounted for up and down reciprocatory movement, cardholding means associated with the carriers for supporting a record cardin a position where it may be engaged by the punches, means for limitingthe lateral movement of the card when it is in a position to be engagedby the punches, adjustable means which in one adjusted position engageswith an edge 01' a record card and maintains it in a certain positionrelative to the normally aligned position of the punch carriers andwhich when in another adjusted position engages with another edge of thecard and maintains the same in another relative position with respect tothe said normal position of the punch carriers, and means forsimultaneously actuating the punches in a direction whereby the recordcard is engaged thereby to perforate the same. v

4. In a machine for the purpose described, a plurality of verticallyarranged spaced punch. carriers normally positioned in alignment andmounted for independent adjustment from and to their normal positions,vertical spacing panels having horizontally aligned card receivingslots, the said panels being interposed between the punch carriers, apunch carried by each carrier and mounted for up and down reciprocatorymovement, and common means for simultaneously reciprocating the punches.

5. In a machine for the purpose described, a plurality of vertical punchcarriers normally positioned in horizontal alignment and mounted forindependent adjustment to the rear of their normally aligned positions,a vertical reciprocatory punch carried by each carrier, the said punchesbeing also normally positioned in horizontal alignment, numbered meanson each carrier for adjusting its positgm, means for supporting a recordcard in a position whereby itnray be engaged by the punches, means forsimultaneously actuating the punches into engagement with the recordcard to perforate the same, and adjustable means which when arranged ina certain position maintains the record card with a particular edgethereof at a certain distance from the punches and which when arrangedin a different position, maintains the said card with another of itsedges at a greater distance from the said punches.

6. In a machine for the purpose described, a plurality of verticallyarranged spaced punch carriers normally positioned in alignment andmounted for independent adjustment from and to their normal positions,each having an opening therein, punch carrying blocks mounted forvertical reciprocating movement in the openings of punch carriers, apunch secured to each punch carrying block, common means engaging withthe punch blocks for simultaneously reciprocating them, and verticalspacing panels having horizontally arranged card receiving slots, thesaid panels being interposed between the punch carriers and the punchcarrying blocks.

7. In a machine for the purpose described, a casing having a frontopening, a plurality of sub stantially vertical punch carriers mountedin the casing for independent forward and rearward adjustment, avertically reciprocatory punch carried by each plate, the said punchesbeing normally arranged in horizontal alignment, and a plurality offixed spacing panels interposed between the carriers, having slots attheir front edges for receiving a record card to be punched.

ROBERT A. NICLAS.

